French amateur cyclists 'were drug peddlars'

By Patrick Bishop in Paris

12:00AM BST 30 May 2001

A COURT case suggests that France's weekend amateur cyclists may be as drug-fuelled as their professional counterparts.

Some 41 riders, trainers and alleged drug dealers, aged from 26 to 70, are on trial for taking or supplying performance-boosting cocktails. The combinations of amphetamine and caffeine with traces of heroin and cocaine were apparently widely used during amateur races or taken at the end of the day to relieve fatigue.

One rider told the court in Poitiers that he hid a syringe under his jersey and injected himself in the stomach as he pedalled. Another defendant, aged 28, said: "At first I just took it during the race because it made me feel much stronger. Then, when I got home feeling tired and not too well in the head, I took it again. Then it was in the morning, at midday . . ."

The practice came to light when two cyclists from Poitiers complained to a doctor of sweating, anxiety attacks and liver pains. They said they believed that the drugs cocktail they had been taking was safe and legal. It was sent for analysis. The doctor reported that the cocktail would lead to "rapid physical and psychological dependance".

He added that among older riders there was a serious risk of heart failure. One of the original defendants, a well-known amateur, died last year aged 50. Amateur racing is very popular in France and files of riders of all ages can be seen on the country's roads throughout the summer months.